Mealey's Patents : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Patents

January 09, 2024
California Federal Judge: Plaintiff Lacks Standing In Patent Fight With Netflix

SAN FRANCISCO — A co-inventor’s claim that he regained ownership via appropriation of an abandoned patent application under Finnish common law was rejected Jan. 8 by a federal judge in California, who clarified, “Finnish common law does not matter here.”
January 08, 2024
Supreme Court Turns Away Latest Request For Section 101 Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bid by a technology company for clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court on the proper standard for determining patent eligibility was turned away Jan. 8 with a denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari.
January 08, 2024
Intel Bid For Certiorari Denied In Patent Dispute Over Fintiv Instructions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A March 2023 ruling by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals largely rejecting a challenge by tech leaders to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) guidance for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board when deciding whether to institute inter partes review (IPR) will stand, in view of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 8 denial of a petition for writ of certiorari.
January 08, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing, Files Amended Opinion In FCA Drug Pricing Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 5 denied a petition for a panel rehearing and a rehearing en banc, issuing an amended opinion of its decision reversing a district court’s dismissal of a relator’s qui tam suit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) against pharmaceutical companies related to their alleged fraud by artificially inflating drug prices, finding “that the qualifying public disclosures here do not collectively disclose a combination of facts sufficient to permit a reasonable inference of fraud.”
January 05, 2024
Panel: Discretion Not Abused In Denial Of Preliminary Injunction In Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An interlocutory appeal of a determination that preliminary injunctive relief is not warranted in a dispute over glucose monitoring patents has failed, with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals finding no abuse of discretion.
January 05, 2024
False Patent Marking Counterclaim Dismissed By Alabama Federal Judge

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A dispute over carpenter bee traps will proceed in Alabama federal court without a counterclaim for false patent marking, a judge there has ruled.
January 04, 2024
‘A La Carte Approach’ To Patentability Challenge Fails, Owner Contends

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A patent owner in a Jan. 3 preliminary response filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board says that its “innovative technology” “has transformed the burgeoning field of light detection and ranging” (LIDAR) and that a petition for inter partes review (IPR) should be rejected.
January 03, 2024
Petitioner Seeks Director Intervention In Denial Of Inter Partes Review Request

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A recent denial of a petition for inter partes review (IPR) of a genomic sequencing patent was premised on misapprehension by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the relevant prior art, the petitioner argues in a Jan. 2 request for rehearing by the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
January 03, 2024
Ford Makes ‘Flawed,’ ‘Unsustainable’ Claims, Patent Owner Alleges

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent owner asserts that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly declared its technology for improved driver safety obvious based upon an erroneous construction of a disputed claim limitation and several other terms.
January 02, 2024
Claims Of Method For Making Steviol Glycoside Affirmed As Invalid, Patent-Ineligible

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in California did not err in granting a patent infringement defendant summary judgment that the claims asserted against it fail for lack of written description because “the one enzyme disclosed in the patents here has not been shown to be typical of the entire genus,” the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 2.
January 02, 2024
‘Barcode’ Wrongly Construed By California Federal Judge, Panel Concludes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final judgment of noninfringement entered by a federal judge in California in a dispute over barcoded coffee capsule technology was reversed by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on the basis of a misconstrued term that appears in every claim of all three patents in suit.
January 02, 2024
In Laser Scanner Contract, Patent Misuse Case, Parties Continue To Spar Over Venue

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Briefing is complete on the question of which venue — the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals or the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals — is the proper place for review of a North Carolina federal judge’s denial of summary judgment on allegations of patent misuse.
January 02, 2024
Federal Circuit Won’t Direct Texas Court To Disqualify Patent Counsel

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bid for mandamus relief by LG Electronics Inc. and LG Electronics USA Inc. (LGE, collectively) from an order denying a request to disqualify the law firm Mayer Brown LLP from representing a patent owner in a Texas federal infringement action has been rejected by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 02, 2024
Patent Owner Critiques BMW Theory Of Motivation To Combine

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a preliminary patent owner response filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the maker of technology intended to hide GPS location data says a petition for inter partes review (IPR) by BMW of North America LLC relies on prior art that fails to “teach or disclose numerous claim limitations.”
January 02, 2024
Patent Owner: Board Created ‘New Standard’ When Instituting Review

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A patent owner says the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly instituted inter partes review (IPR) of its memory module technology in response to a petition that relies on the same prior art as another petition for IPR, which the board denied.
December 21, 2023
Panel: Consumer-Friendly Method For Completing Purchases Is Patent-Ineligible

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 20 said technology that permits a brick-and-mortar store to offer customers a lower price for the same product than what is currently available online is ineligible for patenting.
December 21, 2023
Panel Says Substantial Evidence Supports Board’s Patent Obviousness Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patented method of treating pulmonary hypertension was correctly deemed obvious by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 20 in a blow to the maker of the vasodilator Tyvaso.
December 19, 2023
Panel: Appeal Of Patent Board Ruling Mooted By District Court Dismissal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 19 dismissed an appeal by a petitioner who failed to persuade the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to cancel various claims of a hairbrush patent, citing a dismissal with prejudice of an allegation of infringement of the patent and a failure by the appellant to establish that it is at risk of incurring future infringement liability.
December 18, 2023
Federal Circuit Finds No Error In Patent Board Claim Construction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final written decision (FWD) by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board that declared a single claim of a wireless local area network (WLAN) patent obvious was affirmed Dec. 15 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which said the board correctly construed the disputed claim term “storage element.”
December 18, 2023
In Response To Joint Motion, Panel Vacates Patent Board Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 18 agreed to dismiss an appeal of a final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that declared a method of producing nicotinamide riboside (NR) and compositions containing NR patent-ineligible.
December 15, 2023
Federal Circuit Panel Upholds Claim Preclusion Findings In Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Allegations that a patented book holder assembly was infringed by a laptop mounting device were correctly rejected on res judicata grounds, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled.
December 14, 2023
Palo Alto Networks To Federal Circuit: Patent Board Got It Right

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A user guide for the Sourcefire “3D System” discloses “nearly every limitation” of various challenged claims of a threat detection patent that was correctly canceled by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as obvious, Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PAN) maintains in an appellee brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 14, 2023
Becton, Dickinson Fires Back At Patent Owner, Defends Board Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A formulation of sterilized chlorhexidine gluconate solution (CHG) applied via applicator for the purpose of disinfecting skin was correctly deemed anticipated and obvious by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a medical device manufacturer maintains in a recent brief to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 12, 2023
Outcome Of Inter Partes Review Upheld In Win For Petitioner Apple Inc.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that the independent claims of a patented system that links words and phrases to other sources, such as annotations, were not limited by their preambles will stand, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded Dec. 11 in a summary affirmance.
December 12, 2023
Jawbone Responds To Meta Petition That Seeks Patent Cancellation

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Allegations by Meta Platforms Inc. that patented noise suppression technology would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA) fail, the patent owner maintains in a Dec. 11 preliminary patent owner response filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.